CYPRESS | COMMUNITY NEWS FOCUS

Band to Be in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Cypress High School's band and pageantry units have been invited to perform Nov. 28 in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

"Our school board has approved it, and we'll be going," said band director Darlene Hale. "Only 13 schools nationwide were invited, and we'll be the only school from California."

Hale said 155 Cypress High band members and 57 from the pageantry units, which includes color guard and drill teams, will take part in the traditional Thanksgiving event. The parade will be telecast nationally and will be able to be seen on KNBC-TV Channel 4, Hale said.

According to information mailed to Hale by parade officials, Cypress High is the first Orange County school in at least 10 years to be invited to march in the New York parade.

Hale said a nice bonus of the forthcoming trip is that it will allow Cypress students to visit some Ridgewood High School, N.J., band friends they hosted in February. The Ridgewood students had contacted Cypress High, seeking homes during a competition in Orange County. The Ridgewood students said they picked Cypress High because Macy's parade officials had hinted that Cypress might be invited to New York this fall.

"Now our students will get to reciprocate and stay in homes of their Ridgewood friends during part of the trip back East," Hale said. The Cypress students will spend three nights in Ridgewood, which is near New York City, and two nights in a New York City hotel.

Hale said the trip costs $850 for each student, and band and pageantry members are selling candy to help defray expenses. Band boosters also are planning events, she said.

While in New York, the Cypress students plan to attend a Broadway show, go to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

"For educational events, we'll go to the World Trade Center and see how economics works first-hand," Hale said. "We also hope to tour the Juilliard School of Music."